The following relates generally to wireless communication, and more specifically to coordinated resource partitioning.
Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, and orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, (e.g., a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system). A wireless multiple-access communications system may include a number of base stations, each simultaneously supporting communication for multiple communication devices, which may be otherwise known as user equipment (UE).
A wireless communications system may operate over shared spectrum, meaning that the wireless communications system includes one or more frequency bands that may be shared by multiple network operating entities. In some instances, sharing of the frequency bands may include subdividing the frequency bands into ever-smaller bands dedicated for use by specific network operating entities. In other instances, at least portions of band spectrum may be available for use by more than one network operating entity.
Use of the available band spectrum may then be subject to a contention procedure that may involve the use of a medium-sensing procedure. For example, to avoid interference between different devices or between devices operated by different network operating entities, the wireless communications system may employ medium-sensing procedures, such as listen-before-talk (LBT), to ensure a particular channel is clear before transmitting a message. Medium-sensing procedures may utilize substantial signaling overhead and may result in increased latency, thus adversely affecting the use of shared spectrum by multiple network operating entities. Accordingly, improved procedures for allocating and using shared spectrum between network operating entities are desirable.